Republic Act No.

9485
Signed on June 2, 2007

Republic of the Philippines

Congress of the Philippines
Metro Manila
Thirteenth Congress
Third Special Session
Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the nineteenth day of February, two thousand
seven.
[REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9485]
AN ACT TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN THE DELIVERY OF GOVERNMENT SERVICE
TO THE PUBLIC BY REDUCING BUREAUCRATIC RED TAPE, PREVENTING GRAFT
AND CORRUPTION, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFOR
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007.”
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State to promote
integrity, accountability, proper management of public affairs and public property as well as to
establish effective practices aimed at the prevention of graft and corruption in government.
Towards this end, the State shall maintain honesty and responsibility among its public officials
and employees, and shall take appropriate measures to promote transparency in each agency with
regard to the manner of transacting with the public, which shall encompass a program for the
adoption of simplified procedures that will reduce red tape and expedite transactions in
government.
SEC. 3. Coverage. — This Act shall apply to all government offices and agencies including local
government units and government-owned or -controlled corporations that provide frontline
services as defined in this Act. Those performing judicial, quasi-judicial and legislative functions
are excluded from the coverage of this Act.
including departments, bureaus, offices, instrumentalities, or government-owned and/or
controlled corporations, or local government or district units shall set up their respective service
standards to be known as the Citizen’s Charter in the form of information billboards which
should be posted at the main entrance of offices or at the most conspicuous place, and in the
form of published materials written either in English, Filipino or in the local dialect, that detail:
(a) The procedure to obtain a particular service;
(b) The person/s responsible for each step;
(c) The maximum time to conclude the process;
(d) The document/s to be presented by the customer, if necessary;
(e) The amount of fees, if necessary; and
(f) The procedure for filing complaints.
SEC. 7. Accountability of the Heads of Offices and Agencies. — The head of the office or agency
shall be primarily responsible for the implementation of this Act and shall be held accountable to
the public in rendering fast, efficient, convenient and reliable service. All transactions and
processes are deemed to have been made with the permission or clearance from the highest
authority having jurisdiction over the government office or agency concerned.
SEC. 8. Accessing Frontline Services. — The following shall be adopted by all government
offices and agencies:
(a) Acceptance of Applications and Requests — (1) All officers or employees shall accept
written applications; requests, and/or documents being submitted by clients of the office or
agency.
(2) The responsible officer or employee shall acknowledge receipt of such application and/or
request by writing or printing clearly thereon his/her name, the unit where he/she is connected
with, and the time and date of receipt.
(3) The receiving officer or employee shall perform a preliminary assessment of the request so as
to promote a more expeditious action on requests.
(b) Action of Offices — (1) All applications and/or requests submitted shall be acted upon by the
assigned officer or employee during the period stated in the Citizen’s Charter which shall not be
longer than five working days in the case of simple transactions and ten (10) working days in the
case of complex transactions from the date the request or application was received. Depending
on the nature of the frontline services requested or the mandate of the office or agency under
unusual circumstances, the maximum time prescribed above may be extended. For the extension
due to the nature of frontline services or the mandate of the office or agency concerned, the
period for the delivery of frontline services shall be indicated in the Citizen’s Charter. The office
or agency concerned shall notify the requesting party in writing of the reason for the extension
and the final date of release for the extension and the final date of release of the frontline
service/s requested.
(2) No application or request shall be returned to the client without appropriate action. In case an
application or request is disapproved, the officer or employee who rendered the decision shall
send a formal notice to the client within five working days from the receipt of the request and/or
application, stating therein the reason for the disapproval including a list of specific requirements
which the client failed to submit.
(c) Denial of Request for Access to Government Service — Any denial of request for access to
government service shall be fully explained in writing, stating the name of the person making the
denial and the grounds upon which such denial is based. Any denial of request is deemed to have
been made with the permission or clearance from the highest authority having jurisdiction over
the government office or agency concerned.
(d) Limitation of Signatories — The number of signatories in any document shall be limited to a
maximum of five signatures which shall represent officers directly supervising the office or
agency concerned.
(e) Adoption of Working Schedules to Serve Clients — Heads of offices and agencies which
render frontline services shall adopt appropriate working schedules to ensure that all clients who
are within their premises prior to the end of official working hours are attended to and served
even during lunch break and after regular working hours.
(f) Identification Card — All employees transacting with the public shall be provided with an
official identification card which should be visibly worn during office hours.
(g) Establishment of Public Assistance/Complaints Desk — Each office or agency shall establish
a public assistance/complaints desk in all their offices.
SEC. 12. Criminal Liability for Fixers. — In addition to Section 11(b), fixers, as defined in this
Act, shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment not exceeding six years or a fine of not less than
Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) but not more than Two hundred thousand pesos
(P200,000.00) or both fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court.
SEC. 13. Civil and Criminal Liability, Not Barred. — The finding of administrative liability
under this Act shall not be a bar to the filing of criminal, civil or other related charges under
existing laws arising from the same act or omission as herein enumerated.
SEC. 14. Administrative Jurisdiction. — The administrative jurisdiction on any violation of the
provisions of this Act shall be vested on either the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the
Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) or the Office of the Ombudsman as determined by
appropriate laws and issuances.
Gazette or in two national newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,
(Sgd.) JOSE DE VENECIA JR. (Sgd.) MANNY VILLAR.
Speaker of the House President of the Senate
of Representatives
This Act which is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2589 and House Bill No. 3776 was finally
passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on February 8, 2007 and February 20,
2007 respectively.
(Sgd.) ROBERTO P. (Sgd.) OSCAR G. YABES
NAZARENO Secretary of the Senate
Secretary General
House of Representatives
Approved: JUN 02 2007